The burglar who traded Ted Williams: a Bernie Rhodenbarr mystery

/*STARRED REVIEW*/ Over the last decade, as Lawrence Block's Matthew Scudder has become one of the most popular characters in crime fiction, poor Bernie Rhodenbarr, Block's other series hero, has languished on the shelf. Bernie, the nimble-fingered burglar who solves murders in between heists, has his own fans, though, and they have been badgering Block for the last decade to write another book about their hero. Well, Block finally obliged, and it's about time. This novel is an absolute treat--the funniest, cleverest, in-jokiest lark of a mystery since, well . . . the last Bernie book 10 years ago. In the meantime, the amiably larcenous Bernie has been trying his best to reform, living the quiet life of a Greenwich Village bookseller. But now his new landlord has jacked up the rent, and Bernie, hoping to avoid eviction, figures one more burglary might just do the trick. Opportunity comes knocking, and Bernie walks in, after picking the lock, of course; it looks like a piece of cake until he finds a dead body in the bathroom. Meanwhile, across town, somebody is stealing a baseball-card collection worth a cool million, and the cops are convinced it was Bernie. His alibi--that he was breaking into a different apartment at the time (and finding a stiff)--is problematic. Best to find the ball cards and set matters right. Along the way, we're treated to a nonstop barrage of one-liners, literary puns (like the character who suffers from Edna St. Vincent Malaise--poetic depression in women), and hilarious jibes at fellow mystery writer Sue Grafton (author of, we're told, F Is for Stop and G Is for Spot, among others). The plot gets a little crazy, but who cares when you're having fun? Please, Bernie, don't make us wait another decade between capers. (Reviewed Mar. 15, 1994)0525938079Bill Ott

Burglar/Greenwich Village bookseller Bernie Rhodenbarr discovers a dead body in the apartment and is accused of stealing a $1 million baseball card collection. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Rare books dealer-cum-thief Bernie Rhodenbarr decides to pull off one last job and ends up suspected of murder. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

In the ten years since recovering burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr's last venture into larceny (The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian, not reviewed), his prolific creator has become famous mostly for his dark-hued Matthew Scudder stories. But Block hasn't lost his light touch either, as he demonstrates when Bernie's confronted by temptation--overhearing that the Martin Gilmartins will be leaving their apartment ripe for the picking--valiantly resists, keeps phoning the Gilmartin place till Gilmartin picks up the phone and Bernie knows the hour of temptation has passed--and then, unable to resist a second tip about another empty apartment, lets himself in, discovers a dead body (male, nude, shot) locked inside a bathroom, dusts himself off and goes home--only to be arrested next morning for stealing Gilmartin's collection of baseball cards. Ray Kirschmann, the arresting officer, is perfectly willing to do a deal for the cards; so is Gilmartin's covetous brother-in-law Borden Stoppelgard, Bernie's new landlord. And although Gwendolyn Cooper, who absently tipped him off about the second apartment, is convinced he didn't steal the cards, she wants Bernie to break into her boyfriend's place to grab them from him. Deliciously laid-back fare from a master who makes it all look easy. Bernie, it's been too long. (Major ad/promo; author tour)

Rare books dealer-cum-thief Bernie Rhodenbarr decides to pull off one last job and ends up suspected of murder. Copyright 1994 Cahners Business Information.

Burglar/Greenwich Village bookseller Bernie Rhodenbarr discovers a dead body in the apartment and is accused of stealing a $1 million baseball card collection. (June) Copyright 1995 Cahners Business Information.